Boosting your practice鈥檚 internal marketing

In today’s fragile economic climate, some dentists are left wondering how to spend their marketing dollars, if at all.

The marketing experts at ADA Intelligent Dental Marketing have spoken with thousands of dentists asking this very question. Their advice? Focus on internal marketing.

Dr. Robert Thorup, president and co-founder of ADAidm, explains.

“I’ve recently spoken with many practices answering questions about how to make their practice’s marketing dollars go further,” said Dr. Thorup. “Internal marketing is, very simply put, generating new business from your existing customers, and, it also happens to be a very cost-effective strategy.”

There are three key ways to implement a successful internal marketing strategy. The first is to increase the number of new patients that are referred to the practice. Research indicates that referred patients usually have fewer objections and are also more likely to be long-term, loyal patients. Dr. Thorup believes that investing in a printed referral brochure “gives patients something to talk about. There are many practices that use a standard business card rather than a referral brochure. A business card doesn’t really have enough real estate to talk about the dentist, the team, credentials or facility. A printed referral brochure provides a way to showcase this information in full color.”

The marketing team at ADAidm has the tools to help dentists create a brochure that will reflect each practice in a unique way.

Another strategy to increase internal marketing is to re-introduce patients to the full menu of services that a dental practice offers.

“Many patients don’t always know that their dentist provides whitening treatments, or handles implants,” he said. “One way to do this is through the artwork on the walls at the practice. The walls in a dental practice can become a valuable marketing tool.” The prints, called “Smile Art,” are created at ADAidm, produced with the dentist’s personalized marketing message and can be framed to match any décor. Samples of the Smile Art can be found online at www.adaidm.com.

Lastly, given that most people prefer to choose their dentist based on word of mouth from someone they know, dental practices should strive to provide the highest quality customer service for every patient.

Kristie Nation, vice president of business development at ADAidm, understands how powerful word-of-mouth marketing can be. She helps create marketing strategies, both internal and external, for dental practices across the country.

“A high quality experience will lead to word-of-mouth marketing,” said Ms. Nation. She believes that “in many cases, word-of-mouth marketing isn’t actually ‘marketing’ at all; it’s great customer service.”

Dental practices that provide excellent customer service understand and anticipate their patient’s needs. “This strategy doesn’t necessarily cost anything, but it’s the most challenging to execute,” said Ms. Nation.

Dentists who shift their focus to internal marketing will generate the best results when there are multiple marketing efforts taking place. For example, the practice with a great Web site and stellar patient referrals will always lead the practice that relies on their print ad alone. The marketing team at ADAidm believes that practices that utilize these internal marketing strategies are most likely to see an increase patient referrals.

For more information on ADAidm, call 1-888-218-4660 or visit www.adaidm.com. Until June 15, ADA members will receive 50 percent off the design of a Custom Referral Brochure.

ADA Intelligent Dental Marketing provides a full-service marketing agency, including direct mail design and printing, logo design, local business flyers, and is the only marketing company backed by the expertise of the ADA.